Improvement in damper-regulators for steam-boilers



W. B. Le VAN. DAMPER-REGULATOR FOR STEAM-BOILERS.

Patented Sen-.19, 1876.

UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BARNET LE VAN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN DAMPER-REGULATORS FOR STEAM-BOILERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 182,372, datedSeptember 19, 1876; application filed July 12, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BARNET LE VAN, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Damper Regulators for- Steam -B0ilers, ofwhich the following is a specification:

My invention relates to that class of damper-regulators in which thepressure of the steam in the boiler, acting upona flexible diaphragm,operates a damper in the smokestack or exit-flue, toregulate the draft,and thereby the combustion of the fuel, and is an improvement upon theregulator for which Letters Patent of the United States, numbered10,387, were granted and issued to one Patrick Clark, under date ofJanuary 3, 1554.

My invention is designed to protect the flexible diaphragm from theinjury which it sustains by the direct contact of the steam; and myimprovements consist in combining, with the cylinder or pressure-chamberof the diaphragm, a water-chamber, a steam-supply pipe connected theretonear its top, and a water-pipe extending from the lower surface of thediaphragm to the interior of the water-chamber at a point below theopening of the steam-supply pipe, all as hereinafter more fully setforth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinalcentral section of a damper-regulator embodying iny improvements; Fig.2, av horizontal section of the same at the line a; as of Fig. 1, andFig; 3, a similar section at the line y y of Fig. 1.

To carry out the object of my invention, I provide a base, A, supportedupon feet a, andhaving a circular dished plate, A, near one of its ends,upon, which plate a flexible diaphragm, B, rests, being confined towardits periphery betweeen the plate A and a superposed cylindrical cage, B,by bolts b. A piston, O, rests on the diaphragm B, its stem projectingthrough a guide in the top of the cage B and a pin, 0, rests in acentral recess in the piston O.

Alever, D, having a weight, D, near one of its ends, which weight may beadjusted by a setscrew, d proportionately to the pressure of steam whichit is desired to main train, is supported on the top of the pin 0 byknifeedged bearings 01, and is articulated to lugs B on the cage bysimilar bearings d near one of its ends. An attachment is made from theopposite end by a rod to a damper located in the smoke-stack of asteam-boiler, so that by the rising and falling of the diaphragm, byvariations in the pressure in the boiler, the damper will becorrespondingly closed and opened.

In damper-regulators of the above general construction, as heretoforemade, so far as my knowledge and information extend, the steam has acteddirectly upon the diaphragm, and exertsadeteriorating effect thereon,which necessitates frequent renewal. To obviate this difficulty I form acylindrical water-chamber, E, in the base A, immediately below andconcentric with the plate A. This chamber is closed at bottom by abonnet, E, secured by bolts e. p

A steam-supply pipe, F, leading from the boiler, is connected to oneside of the water-chamber E, near the upper part thereof, and awater-pipe, a, formed upon the plate A, which constitutes the upperboundary of the water-chamber, extends downward from said plate, havinga clear opening from the diaphragm B to a point below the opening of thesteam-supply pipe F, and as near as convenient to the bottom of. thechamber.

In the operation of the device, it will be obvious that the chamber Eforms a receptacle for the water of condensation from the supply-pipe F,and that said water will be forced up into the pipe at and against thediaphragm B by the steam-pressure, effectually preventing the directcontact of the steam with the diaphragm,as it is, under allcircumstances, interposed between the diaphragm and the steam.

I claim as my invention anddesire to secure by Letters Patent- Thecombination, in a damper-regulator, of a flexible diaphragm, a subjacentwater chamher, a steam supply pipe connected to the water-chamber atornear its top, and a water-pipe leading from the diaphragm to a point inthe water-chamber below the opening of the steam-supply pipe,substantially as set forth.

WILLIAM BARNET LE VAN.

